These Are the Best-Looking Sustainable Menswear Looks

These Are the Best-Looking Sustainable Menswear Looks

A shirt made of 1950s napkins? Pants from a quilt? For inventive brands like Bode and Needles, the design credo is ‘reduce, reuse, recycle.” And they do it remarkably well
IN HER DOWNTOWN New York studio, Emily Adams Bode creates handsomely patchworked clothes that began life as those forgotten fabrics you find stacked haphazardly at flea markets. Circa-1950s napkins in shades of cream are reconfigured as a button-up shirt while a pair of high-waisted trousers is made from a quilt comprising 1940s suiting pieces. When Ms. Bode encounters these materials during her global sourcing escapades, she thinks, “Oh my God, somebody’s going to throw this out if I don’t take it.” Now, in the form of her prized pieces, those salvaged materials are fetching four figures in high-end department stores.
Her brand, Bode, is one of many whose gospel is “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Some stitch old clothes into new ones. Take Needles, a Japanese label that makes flannel shirts from thrifted scraps, or Reese Cooper, a Los Angeles designer who patchworks hoodies together from vintage Champion sweatshirts.
Read the full story:These Are the Best-Looking Sustainable Menswear Looks

The Electrifying Stories Behind Rock’s Most Famous Guitars

The Electrifying Stories Behind Rock’s Most Famous Guitars

You can finally get your fingers on a rock god’s legendary ax with these faithful recreations. The back stories are pretty good, too
ENTHRALLED BY a handsome black Les Paul he spied on the cover of Smokey Robinson and his band’s 1963 album “The Fabulous Miracles,” Peter Frampton had long sought a similar model to suit his rocker needs— eBay wasn’t an option then. So he was giddy when a fan of his band Humble Pie gifted him a striking “lamp black” 1954 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe. That same night, he played it while recording his band’s 1971 breakout album, “Performance Rockin’ The Fillmore.”
“It traveled so many miles over the course of the ’70s with me, really to the peak of my career,” said Mr. Frampton, who made it his premier guitar for a decade, posing with it on the cover of his multiplatinum solo album, “Frampton Comes Alive!” Then it was gone, lost when a cargo plane carrying the rocker’s gear crashed in 1980 somewhere in South America. “I was completely heartbroken.”
Read the full story:The Electrifying Stories Behind Rock’s Most Famous Guitars

Discover the Humble Roots of a Preppy Classic

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Discover the Humble Roots of a Preppy Classic

Many people assume L.L. Bean invented the “Norwegian Sweater”—the chunky knit it began selling in 1965 which became shorthand for “preppy.” In fact, 19th-century Norwegian fishermen and workers who had no familiarity with country clubs wore the bird’s-eye-patterned, blue-and-white sweaters to guard themselves against North Sea winds. If you want a little authenticity with your G&T, the original maker, Devold, still produces the knit using 100% Norwegian wool. Devold of Norway Sweater, $245, westerlindoutdoor.com

Visit a New Hotel Steeped in Norwegian-American History

Francisco Nogueira

Visit a New Hotel Steeped in Norwegian-American History

Throughout the 20th century, when Norwegians came to America for vacation (or forever), their voyages often began at Norwegian American Lines’ stately headquarters in Oslo’s port district. This spring, that building becomes a place where journeys end, not begin: the Amerikalinjen hotel. The structure’s nautical heritage is a recurring motif. Pendant lamps in the hotel’s 122 rooms, made by Hadeland Glassverk, are reproductions of the fixtures produced for Norwegian American’s liners; and when guests sip Champagne at the hotel’s Pier 42 cocktail bar (named for the ships’ habitual Manhattan berth), they might do so from vintage glasses that have crossed the Atlantic countless times. From about $265 a night, amerikalinjen.com—Matthew Kronsberg

The Surprising Stories Behind 8 Famous Fashion Logos

Find Out Why This High-Fashion Label Is So Obsessed With White

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Find Out Why This High-Fashion Label Is So Obsessed With White

Maison Margiela continues its obsession with white with this pallid, padded cotton scarf—part of MM6, its lower-priced line. Non-color figures prominently in the Margiela back story from the white of its first runway surface to the staff’s blousons blanches. White, explains the house (which speaks as an anonymous “we”), “is a ‘blanket’ of sorts, a cover that allows details to exist yet harmonizes them, providing a strong and uncluttered environment within which to breathe.” As long as you don’t tie your giant puffy scarf on too tightly. MM6 Maison Margiela Scarf,
$780, ssense.com—Nancy MacDonell

Learn the Genesis of This Watch's Iconic Shape

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Learn the Genesis of This Watch's Iconic Shape

If you’ve ever wondered why the historic Parisian jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels is so devoted to the cloverish shape known as the Alhambra—as seen in this watch’s face—here’s the sparkling scoop. In 1968, it decided it needed a more accessible, everyday range of baubles. Well, as “accessible” as a luxury brand adored by rabid gem-lovers Elizabeth Taylor and the Empress of Iran could be. For this line, Van Cleef developed a quatrefoil motif, whose curves recall the design of the arches in a Moorish palace in Granada, Spain. In the 50-plus years since the Alhambra line was launched, the clover shape has appeared as stud earrings, on rings, looped onto long necklaces—as worn insouciantly by Françoise Hardy. For this watch, an old-fashioned gold-smithing technique gives the dial light-catching ridges. Watch, $7,800, vancleefarpels.com—Rebecca Malinsky

Taste Centuries of Tradition in this Chile-Bean Paste

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Taste Centuries of Tradition in this Chile-Bean Paste

Since 1688, Sichuan Pixian Douban Co. has produced doubanjiang, the chile-bean paste essential to Sichuanese cuisine. The three-year-aged version available today is made the traditional way. Fermented and aged in earthenware crocks stirred daily by hand, the jammy paste develops layers of earthy, savory flavor and slow-burning heat. Imported exclusively by the Mala Market, it’s as close as you can get to journeying through time by the spoonful. $16 for 17.6 ounces, themalamarket.com.—Gabriella Gershenson

Fake Origin Story: Hollister

Illustration by Matthew Cook

Fake Origin Story: Hollister

Hollister, purveyor of beach-garb dreams for millennials, reportedly touted a sun-drenched image based on the journey of a fictional founder.
The tall tale: In its early years, employees were given the spiel that an East Coast gentleman named John M. Hollister traveled to the Dutch East Indies before setting up shop in California around 1922 (a date that graced early branding).
The truth: The company was founded in 2000 in Columbus, Ohio, by Abercrombie and Fitch.
—Ha Duong

From ‘Jeannie’ to ‘Brideshead’: TV That Shaped Interior Designers

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From ‘Jeannie’ to ‘Brideshead’: TV That Shaped Interior Designers

How the sets of beloved childhood TV shows influenced the aesthetics of world-class interior designers
THE EASY MIX OF color and antiques in Lorelai’s house on “Gilmore Girls” schooled Charleston designer J.P. Horton on lived-in eclecticism. To this day, Dallas designer Jean Liu balances square and round shapes in her projects, having adored the mushroom-shaped houses of Smurf Village growing up. If you need décor inspiration, it might be worth streaming Hulu for the shows you loved to cadge some ideas.
Read the full story:From ‘Jeannie’ to ‘Brideshead’: TV That Shaped Interior Designers

Get Beautiful With Ingredients From All Over the World

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Get Beautiful With Ingredients From All Over the World

While she didn’t travel to the literal ends of the earth, April Gargiulo, the founder of Napa, Calif.-based Vintner’s Daughter, covered serious ground when sourcing the ingredients in her new Active Treatment Essence. The long-awaited sequel to her Active Botanical Serum, a viral success, the hydrating product includes moringa from India, marine micro algae from the coast of northern Spain and, according to Ms. Gargiulo, “bergamot…from the heel of Italy, where it is grown with monk-like devotion.” Those obscure ingredients marinate in a five-week fermentation process that gives the essence its X Factor. “That’s what we call ‘the speed of quality,’” said the otherwise unhurried beauty guru, who’s launched all of two products in seven years. “We can’t move any faster.” Essence, $225, vintnersdaughter.com—Dana Wood

A Preppy-Chic Beach Holiday in Spain

Alamy

A Preppy-Chic Beach Holiday in Spain

Inspired by coastal California, Sotogrande was bred for the good life. Here’s where to sleep, golf, eat and take in the polo matches in Spain’s most glamorous seaside spot
SOTOGRANDE LIES just 15 miles from Gibraltar, near the southernmost tip of Spain. But driving past the bougainvillea hedges bordering sprawling villas, compulsively groomed golf courses and polo fields, you might easily mistake this coastal enclave for one in California. In this cultivated environment, Bentleys, yachts and other trappings of wealth have a habit of turning up, which was the whole idea when Sotogrande was born in the 1960s as the dream of one man, Joseph McMicking, born Jose Rafael McMicking y Ynchausti.
Read the full story:A Preppy-Chic Beach Holiday in Spain

Invest in a $300 Dutch Oven With a Lowly Back Story

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Invest in a $300 Dutch Oven With a Lowly Back Story

For decades the Dutch oven was Dutch in name only; practically no one was making the kitchen workhorse in the Netherlands. Now Combekk, based in the nation’s southern part, lays claim to a proud heritage with the Railway Dutch Oven, so named because it’s cast from old railroad tracks and other recycled iron. Coated in enamel to create a nonstick surface, the extra-thick walls conduct and retain heat exceptionally. A built-in thermometer lets you monitor the temperature inside without lifting the lid and losing degrees. $300, store.moma.org—Eleanore Park

Pour on the Ancient History With This Lipsmacking Fish Sauce

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Pour on the Ancient History With This Lipsmacking Fish Sauce

Before Heinz, there was garum. The fermented fish sauce has been called the ketchup of the ancient Romans because they put it on pretty much everything. Today on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, a descendent of garum called colatura survives. At Nettuno, a maker of colatura in the village of Cetara, the Giordano family layers anchovy fillets and coarse salt in small barrels to age three years, and the result is a golden liquid that acts as a mega flavor booster in all sorts of dishes. Nutty, savory and ripe, colatura brings extraordinary oomph to boiled potatoes, Caesar dressing or a simple plate of pasta, olive oil, garlic and parsley. $25 for 3 ounces, gustiamo.com.—Gabriella Gershenson

Snap Up a Film Director-Approved Jacket

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Snap Up a Film Director-Approved Jacket

This spring jacket—from Japanese outerwear brand Cohérence—was “borrowed” from one that Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni wore on set of the 1961 film “La Notte.” Cohérence’s designer, Kentaro Nakagomi, no slacker when it comes to finding inspiration, pores over photos of artistic style icons like Antonioni, Matisse, Corbusier and Duchamp, scrutinizing their coats so he can recreate them. This particular cotton zip-up recalls Antonioni’s—down to its pocket configuration, placket and button cuffs. Sadly, it won’t confer on you any of the director’s filmmaking genius. Jacket, $1,100, thearmoury.com

Run Comfortably (a Toaster Oven Made These Shoes Possible)

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Run Comfortably (a Toaster Oven Made These Shoes Possible)

Running prodigy Golden Harper first hacked his sneakers in 2009 after watching athletes cram their toes into standard shoes and suffer sneaker-induced injuries. Aiming to widen the toe box and shrink the heel, Mr. Harper melted his sneakers in a toaster oven until the glue bubbled. He then molded them by hand, creating the prototype for his Altra shoes. His latest model, the Torin 4, nails his vision, he said, “balancing the low-impact, injury-free biomechanics of barefoot running,” with needed support, so runners can pursue their sport without melting down. From $120, altrarunning.com—Ashley Mateo

Fake Origin Story: Southwest Airlines

Illustration by Matthew Cook

Fake Origin Story: Southwest Airlines

Rollin King, a San Antonio businessman, founded Southwest Airlines in 1967, with his then-attorney, and eventual successor, Herb Kelleher.
The tall tale: In 1967, Mr. King and Mr. Kelleher met for cocktails at a hotel bar. Mr. King was interested in aviation, and after a few stiff drinks, he drew a triangle on a cocktail napkin, connecting San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. If you flew just between those three points, you could operate cheaply, give Texans a great deal and make money. “Herb, let’s start an airline,” Mr. King proposed.” Mr. Kelleher said: “Rollin, you’re crazy. Let’s do it!”
The truth: Mr. King later debunked the tale, the napkin part, at least. “There never was a map drawn on a napkin by me, with anyone at anytime,” he said. “But it’s a helluva story.”
—Barbara Peterson

In Search of the World’s Oldest Wine

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

In Search of the World’s Oldest Wine

A number of places claim to be the birthplace of winemaking and still produce wine, too. Judging by today’s standards, our wine columnist recommends bottles with both modern appeal and deep historical resonance
WHEN AND WHERE were the first grapes cultivated, pressed, fermented and imbibed? Of the many contenders for that distinction, the following six places are consistently among the most frequently cited. Whether any of these is the true birthplace of winemaking—newly unearthed evidence perpetually upends our understanding of vinous history—we must judge the wines made there now as we would any other, on present merits. The bottles listed here, all notable examples of the countries’ respective styles and winemaking traditions, more than hold their own in terms of quality alongside wines from regions far more widely celebrated today. And when it comes to provenance, you could hardly hope to go deeper.
Read the full story:In Search of the World’s Oldest Wine

Origin of an Icon: The Bean-Bag Chair

Origin of an Icon: The Bean-Bag Chair

In 1967, three young designers, Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro, caught up in Italy’s counterculture movement and the new field of ergonomics, began experimenting on a chair. “They were inspired by farmworkers resting on sacks of chestnut leaves, which molded to the shape of the body,” said Giuliano Mosconi, CEO of Italian manufacturer Zanotta. To fill their prototypical vinyl sack, the trio considered water (too hard), ping-pong balls (too expensive), buckshot (too heavy), settling on little polystyrene balls. They photographed the result, doubtful anyone would ever produce it. But one of the photos found its way to an American magazine, and the trio received a call from a U.S. company that had seen it and was eager to order the blobby seat. The store: Macy’s. The order: 10,000 units. The shocked trio approached Zanotti, who was very receptive to the design and whipped up brightly colored leather versions. It still makes the Sacco chair today.

Dine from Dishes That Have Tales to Tell

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Dine from Dishes That Have Tales to Tell

Each inky-blue floral motif on the new Blomst Dinnerware Collection tells a botanical story—from the vague folklore associated with the camellia (a petal fell into a Chinese emperor’s cup of hot water, inventing tea) to better-documented Aztec uses of the dahlia as medicine and food. What’s definitely not fictional: How cleverly the designs, from porcelain maker Royal Copenhagen, update classic blue-and-white. $145 for dinner plate, bloomingdales.com—Tim Gavan

Throw Blooms a Midcentury Curve

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Throw Blooms a Midcentury Curve

In the 1960s, Swiss furniture pioneer Willy Guhl designed a whimsically shaped planter he called Biomorphic, made with a new, strong and highly moldable material that reinforced cement with...asbestos. Lawsuits against the manufacturer continue to this day, but this spring, Houston homewares store Laurier Blanc releases the Cast Iron Tulip Planter, inspired by the midcentury shape—and a whole lot healthier. $249, laurierblanc.com

Appear in Prints by a Japanese Artistic Genius Who Died in 1849

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Appear in Prints by a Japanese Artistic Genius Who Died in 1849

On a trip to Osaka, Japan, Chris Olberding, the founder of Gitman Vintage, happily came across a 1950s Aloha shirt in a pattern based on the work of legendary 19th-century printmaker Hokusai. The problem: To buy this kind of unique find, Mr. Olberding would have had to blow his entire travel budget. Now back home in New York City, the designer has thoughtfully made it possible for the non-filthy-rich to pay homage to Hokusai with summery, short-sleeved, button-up shirts that reproduce the artist’s Japanese street scenes. Shirt, $255, gitmanvintage.com

Visit an Old Flame: Lady Liberty

Illustration by FXCollaborative

Visit an Old Flame: Lady Liberty

Give us your tired, your poor, yes. But as lesser-known lines of Lady Liberty’s sonnet run: “Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.” You’ll be able to read the poem on the original bronze plaque at the Statue of Liberty Museum when it opens in May—unveiling her entire back story. The new museum, a modern 26,000-square-foot structure, faces the back of the statue, a universal symbol of freedom (and shocking bit player in “Planet of the Apes”). Exhibits will document her 1886 arrival as a gift from the people of France, and display artifacts, including the original torch (see rendering above). Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, a Belgian immigrant who chaired the fundraising campaign, said, “I learned how much she means to so many and how magical she is.” nps.gov/stli—Christian L. Wright

Snowboard Safely With a Learn-From-Your-Mistakes Action Cam

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Snowboard Safely With a Learn-From-Your-Mistakes Action Cam

When Shahin Amirpour was snowboarding California’s Mammoth Mountain with friends, the group naturally wanted to capture smartphone video while shredding powder—why do anything if not for Instagram? Navigating a black-diamond run requires concentration, however. “It’s dangerous,” he said. “Your eyes always go to the screen.” When a buddy fell, sending his phone flying, Mr. Amirpour came up with the idea for the OpkixOne, a wearable camera that easily syncs to a smartphone, recording video entirely hands-free. The magnetized, pint-size devices can click onto companion sunglasses (shown), or slide into a ring or necklace, collecting memories cautiously. From $295, opkix.com.—Rachel Jacoby Zoldan

Origin of an Icon: The Mile High Club

Origin of an Icon: The Mile High Club

Plane passengers have been making awkward whoopee in the air for more than a century. According to legend, Lawrence Sperry, the inventor of autopilot, explored the feature’s full range of benefits when flying off Long Island in 1916. While in the throes, Mr. Sperry and his female companion accidentally disengaged the new technology and plunged their plane into a lagoon. They were discovered, unclothed, by duck hunters. Mr. Sperry is thus considered the founder of the Mile High Club—whose members traditionally hold their meetings in cramped bathrooms—though the distinction does not appear in his bio at the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
—Christian L. Wright

Splurge on Cushions That Were Once Paintings

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Splurge on Cushions That Were Once Paintings

American artist and expat Leslie Oschmann came across hoards of underappreciated paintings in the Dutch markets, shops and art schools surrounding her Amsterdam workshop and store, Swarm. So she decided to buy them, cut the canvases from the frames and turn them into functional objects. For these pillows, she reprinted some of the works onto linen—complete with stains and signs of age. $180 each, John Derian Dry Goods, 212-677-8408—Tim Gavan

Find Out How PlayStation Began Life as a Nintendo

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Find Out How PlayStation Began Life as a Nintendo

Back in 1988, Sony was called on to craft an ingenious CD-ROM drive that gamers could link to the popular Super Nintendo. But when Nintendo’s president realized he’d be giving away a lot of games’ rights, he secretly canceled the project, inking a sweeter deal with Philips. Though blindsided, Sony soon hit reset, retaliating with its PlayStation in 1994. Today its PS4 is the world’s top-selling system, outpacing Nintendo’s Switch by nearly three to one. Both brands now sell teeny versions (shown) of their iconic ’90s consoles. From left: SNES Classic, $80, nintendo.com; PlayStation Classic, $100, playstation.com—Joshua Fruhlinger

Fake Origin Story: EBay

Illustration by Matthew Cook

Fake Origin Story: EBay

Amid the late-’90s dot-com boom, fledgling sites like eBay told delicious tales as a way to stand out.
The tall tale: For years, eBay offered a cutesy fable about how founder Pierre Omidyar created the site so his fiancée could trade Pez dispensers.
The truth: eBay’s first media manager Mary Lou Song made it all up. Nobody wants to hear about a young genius designing an online market, she admitted in Adam Cohen's “The Perfect Store.” “They want to hear that he did it for his fiancée.”

Origin of an Icon: The L.L. Bean Boat and Tote

Origin of an Icon: The L.L. Bean Boat and Tote

What Madonna is to every wannabe singer with a YouTube video—the one who was there first and set the standard—the L.L. Bean Boat and Tote is to all those canvas bags littering your life. Initially made in 1944, it’s crafted from near-indestructible canvas: “I’ve seen one go through a snowblower and come out with just a few dings,” says Curt Nichols, Bean’s merchant manager. Sturdy? It can haul up to 500 pounds. Both Junior Leaguers and style icons like Chloë Sevigny have carried the tote, embroidered with a saucy monogram, equally well. Bag, $30, llbean.com—Nancy MacDonell

Browse This Vintage Cookbook Store for Sustenance

Clay Williams for The Wall Street Journal

Browse This Vintage Cookbook Store for Sustenance

Former pastry chef Lizzy Young worked for her father, Roy Young, a rare book dealer, before opening her 200-square-foot Brooklyn store featuring vintage and new culinary books and ephemera. Her offerings range from 19th-century promotional pamphlets to a first edition of “The Joy of Cooking.” “In some of the earlier manuscripts,” Ms. Young said, “you have a recipe for mead next to one to cure a sheep’s cough.” Visit in person or online for surprising views into how we once ate. 212 DeGraw St.; lizzyoungbookseller.com—Gabriella Gershenson

Make This Scrumptious Syrup Your Main Squeeze

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Make This Scrumptious Syrup Your Main Squeeze

Sylvie Charles was a psychiatry resident when an injury sidelined her, leaving her with a lot of time to cook. Making the Indian food she grew up on turned into a business, Spice Mama, offering healthy versions of classic sauces. Developing a tamarind-date chutney, she found the rich date syrup she was using so compelling she bottled it—and it quickly became her most popular product. “All these grocers who had rejected my chutneys were immediately like, ‘We want this on our shelves,’ “ she said. The deep brown-sugar flavor does wonders for coffee, baked goods or yogurt. $8 for 8.8 ounces, justdatesyrup.com—Priya Krishna

Join a Rarefied Beach Club—For a Day

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Join a Rarefied Beach Club—For a Day

In the winter of 1946, Winston Churchill surrendered to Florida’s charms. “My wife and I stand in the need of some rest and sunshine,” wrote Churchill to a friend who had a Miami home and was also a member of Miami Beach’s notoriously exclusive Surf Club, where the privileged swam, sunned and dined exceedingly well. Joining them as a guest, Churchill would park himself at a seaside cabana to paint. In May, the Surf Club—now a Four Seasons hotel—offers non-guests a package that includes your own cabana for the day, spa treatments and lunch. Easel not included. Cabana package, from $890 for two, fourseasons.com

You Could Be Having More Fun at the Grocery Store

Gentl and Hyers

You Could Be Having More Fun at the Grocery Store

Good cooking begins with thoughtful shopping. This market strategy from one of the season’s smartest cookbooks lays out how to put the pleasure back in provisioning
SHOPPING FOR FOOD can make you want to cook, especially when the drudgery is minimized. The key is knowing the difference between fun food shopping and functional food shopping, and exploiting it to your advantage.
You will spend less time in grocery stores and improve the quality of your meals if you make in-person trips for things that make you hungry (the fun stuff)—peak produce, excellent meat and sparkling fish, great dairy and bread—and get the rest online or on a separate pantry-stocking trip. When you don’t have a million things to get, you’ll pick out what truly appeals to you.
Read the full story:You Could Be Having More Fun at the Grocery Store

Carry a Handbag That Descended from a Jewelry Box

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Carry a Handbag That Descended from a Jewelry Box

A small, distinctively red Cartier box has become synonymous with exceptional gifts, but when the French jewelry brand opened its first flagship store in Paris on Rue de la Paix in 1899, its packaging also came in hues of green and pink. A version of the familiar golden garland began edging the eight-sided boxes in 1910, and scarlet became the sole signature color around 1920 or 1930. Now, with the brand’s new Guirlande de Cartier handbags, women can carry around a considerably larger version of the box—as covetable as the originals even if it doesn’t open to reveal jewels. Come to think of it, though, gentlemen with a dramatic bent might effect a proposal by nestling a tiny engagement ring inside this not-so-tiny bag. Bag, $2,020, cartier.com—Rebecca Malinsky

Time Travel in China

CHRIS BARCLAY

Time Travel in China

Where to find vestiges of old-world China—including an entire traditional village that’s been restored as a luxury hotel
WHILE MOST of China hurtles toward the future, replacing small villages with megacities chock-full of high-rises, a few pockets of the nation have managed to preserve their past by turning to unlikely collaborators: tourists and hoteliers. In places such as Shaxi, a lush valley high in the mountains of Yunnan Province, visitors hungry to see the storybook version of ancient China are helping to spur a flurry of private and public preservation initiatives.
Not too long ago, Sideng Old Town, a historic trading center in the middle of the valley, was a little-visited farming town full of ancient buildings, most too unstable to live or work in. Today, these ornate stone and pressed-earth structures have been restored meticulously, and it’s not uncommon to find tourists in trekking gear wandering through the central square admiring the town’s 15th-century temple and the 18th-century theater. A number of coffee shops and other small family businesses have taken over traditional homes that still sport elaborate tile roofs and blue frescoes on the outer walls, typical decorations of the local Bai minority people.
Read the full story:Time Travel in China

Origin of an Icon: The Spork

Origin of an Icon: The Spork

While tools combining a spoon’s bowl and a fork’s tines date back at least as far as ancient Rome, the popularization of the overachieving and arguably absurd spork is really a sign of our own times. In her book “Consider the Fork,” food writer (and Wall Street Journal columnist) Bee Wilson points out that “spork” didn’t enter the English language until the early 20th century and wasn’t a commonly used and trademarked term until the 1970s. Ms. Wilson finds a poignant ode to the perpetual novelty of this portmanteau utensil in the Pixar film “Wall-E.” As the titular robot dutifully and in Sisyphean fashion tidies up the mountains of trash left behind on a future Earth by the humans who have jumped ship for outer space, he stops short at the discovery of a spork. Ms. Wilson writes, “His little brain cannot cope with this new object.” One can hardly blame him.

Pick a Pickle With Deep Roots

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Pick a Pickle With Deep Roots

Growing up outside Hutchinson, Kan., Kelly McVicker spent summers helping her grandmothers amass produce and turn it into pickles, jams and canned goods. After college, she was working for women’s organizations in California when, as she put it, “I suddenly felt this need to put things in jars.” In 2012, she founded McVicker Pickles, a destination for everything from garlic dill spears to Bloody Mary mix. Her turmeric okra, a recent collaboration with Oakland-based spice company Diaspora Co., is earthy and complex, laced with smoked paprika cumin seeds and chili. $10 for a 16-ounce jar, mcvickerpickles.com—Priya Krishna

Bask in the Glow of a Legendary Lamp

Bask in the Glow of a Legendary Lamp

Unless you’ve dined at Copenhagen’s Langelinie Pavillonen, you haven’t basked in the pink light its fixtures—Poul Henningsen’s original 1958 Artichoke Pendant in copper/rose—reflect. Henningsen’s wife did. In fact, Louis Poulsen Lighting, releasing this color way for the first time since the ’50s, claims the Danish designer painted the leaves’ undersides to create a romantic, flattering light—all the better to appreciate his wife’s beauty by. From $12,000, ylighting.com—Tim Gavan

Sit in a Newly Discovered 1960s Design

Sit in a Newly Discovered 1960s Design

“He was never without a number-two pencil,” Sven Risom recalled of his father, Danish-American furniture designer Jens Risom. Among the first to bring modernist Scandinavian design stateside, Mr. Risom died at age 100, in 2016, in his home in New Canaan, Conn. Sorting through their father’s files there, Sven and his siblings found circa-1960 sketches—smudged but meticulous, on yellowed lined notebook paper—for a teak cocktail table and lounge chairs that Risom planned for his family’s vacation home. This spring Design Within Reach fulfills those plans. Jens Risom Block Island Lounge Chair, $795, dwr.com—Tim Gavan

Look How Filson Shrunk Its Classic Fly-Fishing Vest

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Look How Filson Shrunk Its Classic Fly-Fishing Vest

Filson’s cult appeal is rooted in classic pieces like its original 1996 fly-fishing vest. For this update, the Seattle-based outfitter has cleverly pared that source material back into a belt-bag version. With a removable shearling patch (for drying flies), a central pocket and some side-slots, it has just enough storage for a quick spring casting trip. But it’s just as functional as a handyman tool belt or a travel accessory. The whittling enthusiasts among you might want one too. “If you have a lot of small accouterments or small gadgets that you need to organize…it’s great for that,” said Nathan Gray, Filson’s product specialist. Bag, $135, filson.com

Carry a Duffel Bag Informed By Tragedy

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Carry a Duffel Bag Informed By Tragedy

Escaping the Great Kanto earthquake that hit Japan in 1923, Kichizo Yoshida stuffed his belongings in a sack, tied its ends and slung the strings over his shoulder—thus crafting his first backpack. The experience of surviving on what he could carry made him realize bags could be great tools—still a guiding principle for Porter-Yoshida & Co. said president Teruyuki Yoshida. It’s seen in the Tanker 2Way Boston Duffel, crafted of the rugged nylon that lines U.S. Air Force jackets—making it a lightweight, durable stronghold. $395, yoshidakaban.com—Lauren Steele

Climb Mountains the Way WWI Soldiers Did

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

Climb Mountains the Way WWI Soldiers Did

In the late 1800s, industrious mountain climbers in the Italian and Austrian Alps affixed iron rungs, pegs and cables to inhospitable slopes. Greatly expanded during World War I, the routes helped troops move swiftly across slippery terrain. Now, these systems, known as via ferreta, have shed their battle-ready image and come to North America to encourage pure recreation. Among the wilderness areas looking to establish new—and safer—ways for novice climbers to scramble up mountains, both Wyoming’s Jackson Hole Resort (above) and Quebec’s Mont Tremblant National Park will open their via ferratas this June. They’ll also offer guides and gear to secure you to the mountainside. Leave the free-soloing to the pros.
—Brigid Mander

Combat Clutter the Most Elegant Way: An Armoire's Timeless Appeal

Francis Dzikowski/OTTO

Combat Clutter the Most Elegant Way: An Armoire's Timeless Appeal

Reconsider wardrobes, whose history goes back further than their 1980s stint as clunky ‘entertainment centers’
THERE WAS A TIME, the 1980s, actually, when you couldn’t walk into a newly minted “great room” or hotel accommodation without encountering a hulking free-standing cabinet. Inevitably French provincial in style, with swooping scrolls meeting in the middle, these classic designs had been co-opted as entertainment centers. Said Peter Kenny, co-president of the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, “Those hotel wardrobes are really the ultimate insult to the form.”
Read the full story:Combat Clutter the Most Elegant Way: An Armoire’s Timeless Appeal

Trace the Word 'Travel' to its Linguistic Roots

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Trace the Word 'Travel' to its Linguistic Roots

Where did the word “travel” come from? Paul Theroux once wrote that “travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” He had a point. Testy hotel clerks, menus in baffling languages, pickpockets. This is nothing new. Think of the history of travel literature: In Homer’s “The Odyssey,” the protagonist spends 10 laborious years traveling home after the fall of Troy. And “Gulliver’s Travels” were far from Club Med. So it makes sense that the word “travel” evolved from “travail,” which came from “tripalium,” a Roman instrument of torture, giving added meaning to flight delays, long airport lines and all the other torturous elements we endure for the sake of new horizons. Print, from $30 without frame, fineartamerica.com—David Farley

Dive With a Watch Inspired by Ancient Greece

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Dive With a Watch Inspired by Ancient Greece

Sponge divers in ancient Greece hugged massive stones to help them quickly drop to the ocean floor. That lore forms the back story for this dive watch, the first from startup Ianos Watches. The shape of hour markers on its face echoes the stones’ teardrop form and, in another nod to the distant past, the seconds-indicator dial takes its shape from the Antikythera Mechanism, an over-2,000-year-old analog computer discovered off the coast of Greece in 1901. Ianos Watch, about $720, kickstarter.com

Read How Louis Vuitton Luggage Became the A-List Choice

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Read How Louis Vuitton Luggage Became the A-List Choice

How did Louis Vuitton luggage become the luggage? Because, historically, the aesthetes of travel and the world’s pickiest packers sought it out, according to Bertil Scali, whose upcoming coffee table book, “Travellers’ Tales: Bags Unpacked” (April, Thames & Hudson) profiles 53 original influencers—from Greta Garbo to Sofia Coppola—who have carried Louis Vuitton bags, many of them custom-made. In 1924, for instance, the French tennis star Suzanne Lenglen had a special flat LV suitcase fitted to keep her Jean Patou clothes “perfectly isolated from rackets, shoes, and balls.” Rich with both illustrations and eccentric, non-luggage-related details (Cole Porter composed his first operetta at the age of 10), not to mention old advertisements that are printed on onion skin, the formidable, 4-pound book is like a trunk full of postcards from all over the globe. $95, amazon.com.—Christian L. Wright

Fake Origin Story: Elsie the Cow

Illustration by Matthew Cook

Fake Origin Story: Elsie the Cow

Since the 1930s, Elsie the Cow has fluttered her long lashes on behalf of Borden dairy products.
The tall tale: This real, live “spokescow” was the wife of Elmer the Bull, who repped Elmer’s Glue for Borden’s adhesive line.
The truth: Elsie was only meant to be a cartoon. But when visitors to the Borden exhibit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair asked which cow on display was Elsie, the company selected one and made her a star.

Revisit a Classic Game—Thanks to a Fed-Up Lawyer

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Revisit a Classic Game—Thanks to a Fed-Up Lawyer

Many of us dream of quitting our jobs to relive the fun and thrills of youth. Justin Jacobson had the guts to do it, abandoning law when his sideline, Restoration Games—dedicated to updating beloved board games for a new generation—took off. Its breakout hit is a fresh take on “Fireball Island,” 1986’s kinetic, marble-flinging adventure where you hunt treasures and explode bridges and friendships while avoiding the flaming attacks of Vul-Kar, the vengeful volcano god. Experience anew the joy of crushing your big brother’s token. $75, restorationgames.com—Andrew McAlpine

Get Behind a One-of-a-Kind Desk

Get Behind a One-of-a-Kind Desk

Until recently, this 1960s desk by Italian designer Guglielmo Ulrich served a bustling Milan notary office. It’s now part of an experiment by the normally modern-minded design retailer CB2, in partnership with New York designer Charlie Ferrer. The goal: to bring vintage pieces to consumers unlikely to go antiquing through Europe. The desk’s carved, brass-capped facets were inspired by the similarly studded exterior of Bologna’s Palazzo dei Diamanti, completed in 1503. $11,500, available April 4, CB2, 212-355-7974—Tim Gavan

The Real Reason Porsche Ignitions Are Left of the Wheel

National Motor Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images; Porsche

The Real Reason Porsche Ignitions Are Left of the Wheel

Porsche owners love to brag how their cars’ odd ignition placement can be traced to the brand’s racing tradition. The story is baloney, as Dan Neil discovered
NEWBIE PORSCHE owners may experience brief disorientation. It could take a few mornings to get used to the German luxury-sport cars’ ignition switch being to the left of the steering wheel, outboard of the driving position, not inboard like every other make of car in the known universe.
What’s the deal there? Most Porsche drivers would probably tell you the story their dealers told them: The outboard-placed ignition keylock (now the Start/Stop switch) was a racing innovation. Up until 1970, the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race employed a running start, when competitors would sprint across the track, jump in their cars and roar away. The ignition switch on the left allowed a Porsche driver to start the car while shifting into gear and steering off.
Read the full story:The Real Reason Porsche Ignitions Are Left of the Wheel

Serve Fresh Craft Beer From Your Kitchen Countertop

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Serve Fresh Craft Beer From Your Kitchen Countertop

Since e-commerce can bring anything to one’s doorstep, why not craft beer? That’s what Berkeley M.B.A. student Sebastien Tron wondered in 2016 after happily sampling a selection of local Bay Area beers. He co-founded Hopsy to deliver growlers but realized his dud suds were quickly growing stale. He pivoted, working with Krups to develop a countertop tap that keeps brew—delivered in mini-kegs filled by 30 of the nation’s top craft breweries—cold, fresh and delicious until the last pull. Available in major cities, from $239, hopsy.beer—Aaron Stern

Paint a Room With the Art World's Sexiest Blue

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Paint a Room With the Art World's Sexiest Blue

French artist Yves Klein famously employed nude models to slather themselves in paint and press their bodies onto blank canvases, but the unique color of the paint may have left an even more lasting impression. International Klein Blue, which he created by mixing a synthetic resin with ultramarine pigment, yielded an ultra-vibrant matte blue once it dried. Now French paint manufacturer Ressource has partnered with the Yves Klein Archives to develop a wall paint of the same quality and shade Klein used to coat both his naked performance-art collaborators and the 1961 canvas, “Blue Monochrome.” Though that piece hangs in New York’s Museum of Modern Art, you can approximate it in your own home, fully clothed and with minimal artistic ability. $100 for 1 liter undercoat Yves Klein and 1 liter Yves Klein Matte Paint, Ressource, 646-677-5336—Tim Gavan

Origin of an Icon: The McIntosh MC275 Tube Amplifier

Origin of an Icon: The McIntosh MC275 Tube Amplifier

Devotees of McIntosh—the audio giant recognized for amping up Woodstock and rousing the Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound”—might be surprised by its back story. Its founders’ first triumph: figuring out how to transmit the hold-music Chicago residents heard while waiting for an operator to connect their calls. Sensing their powerful amps could do more than just irritate people, Frank McIntosh and Gordon Gow put Muzak aside and homed in on what audio nuts craved. In 1961, McIntosh’s MC275 tube amplifier, engineered for newfangled “stereo,” became the standard for clean, forceful sound. Though transistors eliminated the need for tubes, the MC275 persists as a sought-after amp. $6,000, mcintoshlabs.com

Sleep on a Linen Pattern Nearly Lost to Time

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Sleep on a Linen Pattern Nearly Lost to Time

“We often peruse online auctions for old Matouk products, hoping to add to our archives,” said Mindy Matouk, creative director of the Fall River, Mass., linens company. For its 90th anniversary, the team scoured those archives for a suitable pattern but came up empty. Then they spied a vintage sheet set that had been sitting ignored and unarchived on the CEO’s office floor for months. Bingo: The newly released Margot collection updates the pattern as a minimalist floral. $68 to $599, matouk.com